Sink or Swim
by Imagination.To.Paper
Summary: While on vacation, Callie learns to lean on the support of her family through a terrifying event.
1. Chapter 1

**This had been in my head for a while. It will be a two or three shot.**

Stef and Lena had planned this trip to the waterpark for over 6 months and it was finally here. Lena and the kids were all on spring break and Stef had managed to get 4 days off of work. They all piled into their van and made the two hour trip to a great and much needed break.

The first two days were spent sight-seeing, much to Lena's happiness. She didn't want her children to spend the entire time lying in bed or watching T.V.

However, the last full day of their break, the kids, and Stef, pleaded to spend the bulk of the day at the gigantic waterpark. Lena smiled at her children, and wife, and agreed. She was just happy to have all of her babies with her, she knew that there would be few more chances for a full family vacation and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity.

So, to everyone's pleasure, the family woke up on their third day of vacation, packed up for the afternoon, and headed to the waterpark.

Mariana had immediately found a spot to work on her tan. Claiming that she could not go on vacation and not come back tanner than she was before. Lena, however, required sunblock on all of her children, knowing the harms of the sun. With little argument, the teen agreed and applied it before pulling out a book and settling down on a chair.

Callie took Jude down all of the slides right away. The two of them had never been to a waterpark and Callie wanted Jude to take full advantage of everything it had to offer. She knew that he had already been adopted, and he might be able to go back again with the Adam Fosters, but she didn't know if her adoption was ever going to be official, no matter how many times Stef and Lena said it would. Regardless, she wanted to spend this fun time with her brother.

Brandon and Jesus found a spot to create an obstacle course and were racing one another, something they had done anytime they were at any sort of waterpark. It didn't matter how old they were or where they were, they loved trying to beat each other, pushing one another into the water and taunting one another when one lost.

Both Stef and Lena were content with watching their children have the time of their lives, especially their two newest members. They weren't worrying about anything and were finally able to live a part of the childhood that they were robbed of so early in life.

After spending the better part of two hours in the water, Stef was sent to gather everyone while Lena took out the lunches they had packed. The boys scarfed down their food, eager to get back into the water. Brandon and Jesus wanted to get Jude in on their races and were determined to show him the best courses they had made up.

"Try tasting your food, piranhas." Stef said with a chuckle. "I worked hard on those sandwiches."

All of the kids looked at her with a look of disbelief.

"What?" She faked confusion of their looks.

"When is the last time you made a sandwich, mom?" Brandon asked with a smirk.

Stef opened her mouth in surprise. "I make them all of the time!"

"How many of those are edible?" Mariana scoffed.

All of the children stifled their laughs as Stef mock glared at her youngest daughter. "Oh you better watch it missy."

Mariana rolled her eyes with a giggle. "Or what? You'll make me a sandwich?"

Stef narrowed her eyes at the girl and placed her half-eaten sandwich down. She bent down, picked Mariana up, tossed her over her shoulder, and began walking towards the side of the pool.

"Mama!" She shrieked as Stef easily moved towards the water, the squirming of her daughter making no difference.

"Stefanie. Put our daughter down." Lena warned. She didn't think her wife would actually throw the girl in, but she didn't want to take any chances.

The blonde stopped a few feet away from the edge. "You wanna tell me what you think about my sandwiches again?" She asked.

Mariana picked her head up and looked at her siblings with a pleading look.

"Sorry. Too busy eating this edible sandwich." Jesus said with a chuckle as Mariana's jaw dropped in frustration.

"Hmmmm?" Stef asked, inching closer to the edge.

"Ok! Ok! Fine! They're amazing. Best food I've ever eaten. Ok? Now put me down or I swear..."

"You swear what?" Stef asked with a chuckle as she backed away from the water and placed the girl back down on her feet.

"I swear I'll make you eat only your sandwiches." She said with a giggle before running towards Lena and sitting on her lap, using her as a shield.

Stef narrowed her eyes and used two fingers to point at her own eyes and then at her daughter's. "This isn't over." She joked before she picked up her sandwich again.

Lena smiled at her beautiful family. She didn't think her heart could be so full and yet everything she could ever want was right there in front of her.

"Could you chew any slower?" Jesus whined at his older brother as he and Jude bounced from foot to foot waiting to go back in the water.

Stef snorted. "Slow down, speedy speedster. Spend some time with your mamas."

Jesus exhaled in frustration. "We spent the past two days with you two. There's only so much we can take of you guys."

Stef raised her eyebrows at her son. "Don't think I won't throw you in the water too."

"I'd just like to see you try." Jesus teased.

"Ok. Enough. Finish eating." She said towards her wife. "And Jesus, Jude. Sit down and wait for your brother to finish." She told her sons.

Callie sat silently, watching. She couldn't be happier that her brother had been officially adopted into such a wonderful family. She could finally breathe knowing he would have someone to take care of him for the rest of his life. And although she desperately wanted to have that same assurance, she felt like she would never catch a break. But, to Callie, none of that mattered as long as Jude was safe. She could remember all of the times that she was afraid to close her eyes, afraid to say the wrong thing, to even breathe too loud. All of those nights in those terrible homes were made up by this home. Callie was finally safe, at least for now.

"Callie?" Stef's voice broke through the teen's thoughts.

The blonde was sitting next to Callie, tilting her head to try and reach her seeming far off gaze. The boys had finished eating and were back in the water, and Stef had been calling the girl's name a few times.

"Hmm?" Callie mumbled as she looked up at her foster mother. "Sorry, what?"

Stef smiled. "Whatcha thinkin' about Slugabug?"

Callie shook her head "Just wondering which one of the boys is gonna hurl first." She said with a small smile. She didn't want to ruin this perfectly happy vacation with her petty thoughts.

Stef laughed out loud while Lena and Mariana looked disgusted.

"Come on, ladies. Let's take advantage of this beautiful day!" Stef said as she pulled Callie and Mariana up by their hands before reaching down to help her wife up.

"I wanted to tan!" Mariana whined and sat back down.

"You tan any longer and you're gonna look like one of those reality T.V. people with the foundation that is 3 shades too dark." Stef shot back as she helped Lena stand up.

"Someone has to stay with the stuff." Lena protested, not really wanting to get into the water.

"Oh come on, party poopers! We'll just go in right over there." She pointed to a spot close to their location. "We can watch our stuff while we're in the water."

Lena looked from the water to their spot. "If anything gets taken..." She began before Stef smiled and began to pull her towards the pool. She turned back to her daughters. "I will toss you both in." She said with an almost complete serious tone.

The brunettes looked at one another, got up, and made their way towards the edge of the water. They sat away from the moms and began talking about nothing in particular. Mariana was so glad she finally had someone sh could talk to about teenage girl issues. There were only so many things she would dare go to her moms about.

Stef and Lena waded in the shallow end of the pool, cooling off and keeping an eye out for their kids. Although they both knew they were all old enough to know to be extra careful, both women would rather be over cautious than find out too late that they weren't cautious enough.

* * *

"Has mom ever taught you how to do a spinning dive?' Mariana asked Callie as they both treaded water in the deeper end of the pool.

It had been about a half hour since they all got in the water and many of the other vacationeers had left, leaving much more room in the water. The boys had gotten tired of their races and joined the rest of their family in the giant pool. They begged their sisters to play games with them, but both girls knew they would most likely end up getting dunked in the water, which meant a firm no.

"Uhh don't think so." Callie said as the women were talking.

"Mom!" Mariana yelled to the blonde.

"Mariana!" Stef yelled back.

"You have to teach Callie how to do a spinning dive!" She exclaimed.

Stef smiled. She loved that her children still wanted her to teach them things and wanted to be around her. All joking aside, she really was lucky to have such wonderful children and she would do almost anything for them at the drop of a dime.

"Yeah?" She asked as she made her way over to her daughters.

Callie shrugged her shoulders. "Sure. I mean I don't know how to do a regular dive, but yeah why not?"

Stef winked at the girl. She knew Mariana wanted her to do it more than she herself wanted to, but she silently thanked her for being such a good sport about it.

"Alright, my loves. Watch and learn." She said as she got out of the water, took a few moments to check and make sure there wasn't anyone where she would be entering the water, prepped her form and pushed off the side of the pool. She spun sideways and ended up diving in stomach up instead of back up.

As she emerged from the water, her children and wife were all clapping for her. She dramatically thanked them and swam back over to her daughters. "So? Wanna try?" She asked excitedly.

Callie looked at Mariana to see what she wanted to do.

"I'm not very good, but mom's been helping me. Let's see you try it. It's fine if you can't get it on the first time. It took me forever to even get it a little right." The Latina said with a hint of sadness in her tone.

"You just gotta keep practicing, sweetheart." Lena said as she made her way over to her daughters and wife. She had gotten out and had her towel wrapped around her body while she stood on the side of the pool to talk to her family. "Do you know how long it took mom to nail down that dive?" She asked with raised eyebrows.

"Mom said it only took her a few tries!" Mariana exclaimed, looking from one mother to the other.

Lena scoffed. "Yeah, after the first few years."

Mariana looked at her mother with disbelief. "You liar!"

Stef shrugged her shoulders. "Pretty sure I told you that when you still believed everything that came out of my mouth was the truth. I think that was also around the time when I told you that your pet hamster was given to a very needy family in order to live out his life duty."

Lena chuckled. "Oh yeah, I remember that. She went around school telling everyone that her hamster was doing his duty."

"I couldn't bring myself to tell you that he died!" Stef defended her actions.

"Yeah yeah whatever." Mariana playfully rolled her eyes. "So you gonna do it?" She changed the subject and looked at Callie.

The teen bit her lip as she thought about the question. "Sure. Yeah. Let's do this." She said with more enthusiasm than she typically would and made her way out of the pool.

Mariana and Lena watched as Stef helped Callie position her feet and hold her hands in the right way. She then told her to try the regular dive before going onto the spinning dive.

It took many tries, but Callie finally got ahold of the idea of the dive. She still couldn't get it completely, but she was much better than before, especially never having don't any sort of dive prior.

By this time, Mariana had gotten out of the water and was back on her chair, using what little sun they had left to tan and finish more of her book and talk with Lena, who had also sat back down.

The boys had taken over the shallow end and were taking turns throwing each other into the deeper end- mainly taking turns throwing Jude in since he was significantly smaller than the other two.

"You've almost got it, Cal!" Stef praised as Callie's head emerged from diving in once again. The teen was tired, but she was determined to get this right. She couldn't believe how much she enjoyed simply being with Stef- sharing just this simple activity made her feel so much closer to the woman.

"You wanna take a break, babe?" Stef asked as she saw Callie breathing deeply. She knew it was taking a lot of energy to continually dive in and swim back out.

Callie shook her head no and climbed out once again. She was going to get this.

The occupancy of the pool had gone up significantly since the start of the diving lessons and Stef knew that they wouldn't have much room to continue for much longer. However, she was so happy to see Callie open up to them and act like a normal teenager, that she wanted to give the girl what she wanted. And at that moment, she wanted to dive.

Callie pulled herself up and out of the water, careful not to bump into the growing number of kids around and in the pool. She positioned herself and pushed off of the side of the pool.

Before she even made it two feet under the water, a boy jumped into the pool, not looking, and landed on Callie's head. The girl's body jolted further down and the air was suddenly pushed out of her lungs. She suddenly felt the need for oxygen, but her head was slightly spinning from being hit. She tried to swim up, but wasn't making the fast progress she needed. She started to panic.

Stef, who was watching from a couple of yards away, saw the entire incident. "Callie!" She yelled as she swam over to where she thought her daughter was.

However, it took Stef longer than she wanted to find her because of the number of people in the water. She ducked under the water and opened her eyes, scanning for the brunette. She spotted her a few feet under the water, scrambling around almost as if she didn't know which way was up. Stef went up for another breath of air before diving down towards the girl. She grabbed her by her waist and began swimming up towards the air.

As soon as they surfaced, she began to swim to the edge of the pool. She was met in the water by the lifeguard who too had seen the incident and was also trying to help the girl. Together, they reached the side of the pool and a team of lifeguards pulled Callie up and out on a backboard.

"Callie? Callie love!" Stef called out as the lifeguard looked the teen over.

"Starting compressions" was all she heard .


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the responses! Hope this does justice.**

* * *

 _'Starting compressions'_

Stef tried to get close enough to see where her daughter was, but the lifeguards instructed her to stay back.

"Ma'am please. Let us do our job."

"Can you at least tell me what is happening?" Stef asked in a desperate yell. She needed to know whether or not her daughter was breathing at the moment.

Suddenly, Stef heard sputtering of water and a violent cough and heavy breathing. She cupped her hands around her mouth as she peered behind a lifeguard and saw her daughter coughing up water.

"Callie!" She called out- hoping that she would now be able to go to her daughter.

As Stef started to push through, the lifeguard once again stopped her. "I'm sorry but..." He began before Stef snapped back.

"I need to be with my daughter!" She knew it wasn't his doing, it was policy to make sure she was alright, but that didn't change the urgency of seeing and feeling for herself that the girl was alright.

With a sad smile and a nod, the lifeguard proceeded with his original statement. "I know, but we have to take her to the medical office for a routine check. You are more than welcome to be there with her. Follow me." He knew that the woman was simply frightened about her child and didn't take the harshness of Stef's voice to heart.

Stef nodded and was about to turn to follow the man, but was stopped by the sound of her own name being called from behind her. She turned around and saw a frantic Lena quickly making her way towards her, followed closely by the rest of her children.

"Brandon said he saw Callie being pulled from the water! Stef what happened?!" Lena asked frantically as she tried to look around for her daughter.

Stef looked at all of the frightened faces in front of her, but knew she needed to be with Callie.

"She's alright, love. Just a little scare. They have to do a routine follow up..." She started as she looked at her children and then at Lena, trying to communicate to her that Lena needed to keep the other kids occupied while she sorted everything out.

Lena, knowing her wife like the back of her hand, understood and nodded. However, before she turned, she pulled her wife in for a hug and asked "You're positive she's alright?"

Stef nodded. "I saw her, she's gonna be a little shaken up, but otherwise she should be fine." She whispered as the two embraced.

Lena nodded back and pulled herself together as Stef winked at her children and took off after her daughter.

"What happened to Callie? Is she gonna be ok?" Jude asked in a small voice.

Lena pulled the boy into one side and reached out for Mariana, who had her arms wrapped around herself, and pulled her into the other side, kissing both of their heads. "She's gonna be just fine, my loves. Mom is with her." She responded as she began to lead them back towards their chairs and towels. She knew that her youngest two would most likely not even bother getting back into the water and that she should start packing up while they had some time.

* * *

Stef quickly caught up to the stretcher as the lifeguards carried a disoriented Callie to the medical office, which, thankfully, was only a few yards away.

"Where are you taking me? Please! I'm fine!" Callie called out as she tried to sit up. The mandatory restraints put on her were hindering her efforts and making her more frustrated. "Please!" Her voice shook. She felt constricted and controlled. She knew that something had happened in the water, but she wasn't fully aware of where she was being taken. She pushed through her shaky demeanor and tried to sound as tough as possible. "I don't wanna go with you! Please! I'm fine!"

"Callie!"

The girl tried to find the voice who sounded so familiar; Stef!

"Stef?"

The blonde pushed her way towards the girl as they reached the building and placed her and the stretcher down on a table. Finally, Stef was able to get to her daughter. She smiled down at the terrified brown eyes and brushed some wet hair away from her face. "Hi, my love!" She tried to keep her tears at bay.

"Where am I? I don't wanna be here! Please!" Callie begged her foster mother. It was very rare that Callie allowed herself to show this much emotion, but at the moment, she was more scared of Stef leaving her alone with these people and decided to risk it now and deal with building her walls back up later.

Stef sighed and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "I know, baby but the lifeguards just have to check you over to make sure everything is alright." She tried to explain.

"But I'm fine!" The teen blurted out as she once again pulled at the restraints on her wrists. "Get these off of me!" She cried out, quickly losing control of her emotions.

The manager of the pool cleared his throat as he approached the two and tried his best to appear friendly and authoritative. "We will take those off just as soon as we finish a routine check. We need to make sure we didn't miss anything."

Callie glared at him and then glared at Stef when she saw the woman nodding her head in agreement.

"Are you mom?" He turned to Stef when he understood he wouldn't be getting a verbal response from the teen.

"Yes. Sorry. Stef." She introduced herself as she held out her hand. She knew the man was trying to be helpful and that Callie wasn't one to take help, so her behavior wasn't personal, it was a reflex.

"I'm Andrew. And this is..." He asked looking back at Callie who had by that time turned her gaze away from the adults, as much as the neck brace would allow her.

"Callie." Stef finished for him, knowing that her daughter wouldn't be speaking anytime soon.

Andrew smiled and nodded. "I like that name."

Stef licked her lips, unable to simply sit there and do nothing. She gestured to the side of the room that was furthest away from the teen and the manager followed the blonde. "How long do you think this is going to take?" She asked. "It's just I know my daughter is acting like she doesn't care, but deep down, she is probably fighting off a panic attack." Stef whispered.

The man nodded in understanding. "I apologize, but it is protocol and like I said before, we need to make sure she is alright to be released." He explained.

"But she's alright, isn't she?" The mother asked slowly. It hadn't really occurred to her that even though her daughter was conscious and speaking, she could still be injured.

"Most likely, but we need to check regardless." He responded, trying to ease the mother's obvious worries.

"Get away from me!" Callie's frantic voice caught Stef's attention and the two adults turned to see a few of the lifeguards next to the girl.

Stef sighed and made her way towards her daughter. "Callie. They are just doing their job." She felt a little hypocritical because she knew if she was in the same position, that she would probably be reacting in the same exact way. But she also knew that if she was in the same position, Lena would be telling her what she was telling Callie.

"Please. I promise I'm fine!" Callie tried once more as the lifeguards continued to feel around her neck and check her breathing for any signs of abnormality.

"Cal, look at me." Stef said as the manager handed her a fold-up chair and she positioned it next to her daughter's head. Reluctantly, Callie's eyes met Stef's.

Stef exhaled, trying to calm both her daughter and herself. "They are going to check you over quickly and then we can leave." She started and as soon as Callie opened her mouth to protest, Stef narrowed her eyes slightly. "Cal. No arguments. They are almost done. I need you to be brave for me right now. Can you do that?" She asked, knowing the girl would always put on a brave face, but that she was freaking out on the inside.

"But..." Callie started, tears finally falling silently. "I'm fine."

Stef smiled. "I know you are, love."

* * *

Lena tried to shake the dazed look out of her eyes as she picked up the family's belongings. Stef had told her that Callie was alright, but that kid always got the short end of the stick. It just wasn't fair. She looked at her four other children who had put street clothes on over their wet suits and were each holding a bag, clearly ready to leave.

"Do we have everything?" She asked, trying her best to sound normal.

All four kids nodded.

"Hey." Lena said, gaining all of her children's attention. "Callie is fine. Mom is with her and she said they are required to do this check. So no more worrying, alright?"

"Of course she's alright. It's Callie." Jesus said, trying to follow in her mom's footsteps and get the rest of his siblings in a better mood. "Come on!" He put his arms around his younger siblings and started walking.

Jesus turned slightly to Jude and whispered, "Maybe they'll take us out to ice cream!"

Jude tried to smile, but it was hard for him to think that absolutely nothing was wrong. It hardly ever worked out in his sister's favor. He hated how the world seemed to be against her when she did nothing wrong to deserve any of it.

Brandon hung back with his mother, helping her grab the last of the bags. "So are we going back home or to the hotel or..." He hesitantly asked.

Lena sighed and looked at him as they began to follow the three other kids, "I don't know. I'm gonna wait and see how Cal is and talk to mom. Most likely she won't want us to make a big deal out of it, so we will probably just head back to the hotel and maybe just spend the rest of the night there. Order a pizza and watch movies." Lena explained, though to be honest, she hadn't truly thought about it much herself.

Brandon nodded. He knew he would have to step up as the oldest and help out with his younger siblings, especially if his moms needed to be with Callie.

"Let's not make this bigger than it is, though? Alright?" She continued with a small smile.

"Yeah." The boy answered with a nod. He knew Callie was tough, they all did.

* * *

When Lena and Brandon finally caught up with Jesus, Mariana and Jude, the three had already reached the medical building and were talking to Stef, who had seen them approach the room.

"Please, babies. Just stay out here with mama for a few more minutes. We're almost done here. I don't want Callie to feel crowded."

Lena dropped her things next to the building and hurried to her children. "Come on, let's wait over here." She ushered her children away from the door. "Here." She pulled out some money from her purse and handed it to Brandon. "Go grab a snack and by the time you're done, Callie should be too."

All four children looked skeptical, but Brandon took charge and began to walk towards the snack bar. "Come on, guys." He said over his shoulder as he waited for them to follow him. "Jude. Can you help pick out what Callie likes best? It'll be like a surprise for her!" He tried to get the youngest engaged, and finally, after both Stef and Lena nodded at him to go, he turned around and joined his siblings.

Both mothers exhaled as Lena turned to face her wife. "What's happening?"

Stef nodded with her head for her wife to follow her back into the room that Callie was in. She had been released of the restraints and was now sitting up on the table while a lifeguard checked her eyes with a light pen.

Before speaking to Lena, Stef looked at her daughter and spoke, "We're both here, love. Alright?"

Callie didn't respond and Stef let out a breath as she began to explain to Lena what had happened.

"So he just jumped on top of her?" Lena asked, making sure she understood what had happened.

Stef nodded. "By the time I reached her she was unconscious."

Lena's eyes pooled with tears, but Stef stopped her. "Don't scare her, love."

The brunette nodded, knowing the teen was embarrassed and hated so much attention on herself. "So, is anything wrong?" She asked, trying to move the conversation along.

"Nothing physically." Stef responded as sh looked back at the girl who was shivering despite being wrapped up in two large towels.

"Mrs. Foster?" Andrew called out, causing both mothers to pause their conversation.

"Yes?" Stef answered as she and her wife walked over to the table.

"She checks out to be alright, however, I need you to keep an eye on her for the rest of the night." He explained as Callie rolled her eyes. She hated feeling like a burden and at that moment, she felt like the biggest burden possible.

"Keep an eye out for what?" Stef asked as she looked past the man and smiled at the girl.

"Headaches, blurry vision, anything off. There shouldn't be anything to worry about, but sometimes symptoms develop after the initial shock." He explained.

Both women nodded their heads in understanding.

"Can we take her?" Stef asked, hoping to get her daughter out of her wet and now cold suit and into some clothes.

Andrew nodded, "Yup. She's all yours! I'm just gonna print out a few papers on what we did and what to specifically look out for and you three can be on your way." He continued as Stef followed the manager to the computer.

"I'm gonna go grab Callie's clothes" Lena said to Stef as she walked over to her daughter.

She smiled at the girl and kissed her forehead. "How you doing, honey?"

Callie forced out a smile and nodded her head slightly. "Just a little chilly."

Lena laughed. "I'll bet. I'm gonna go get your clothes so you can put them on in here before we leave, alright?"

Callie smiled and responded with a small "Thanks" before she watched her mother leave.

The teen inhaled and exhaled deeply as she tried to push the dizzy and nauseous feeling away. She didn't want to be any more trouble than she already was, so she told all of the people who came to check on her that she was fine, when in reality, her head was pounding and she felt like she could pass out at any second. She continued to remind herself that she needed to make it just a little while longer and then she could go take a nap. She knew that's what Stef and Lena would probably make her do anyway, so if she could fake it until then, she would have some more time to think of what to do next.

"Ok, sweetheart. Here are your clothes. The kids are waiting outside for you with snacks." Lena tried to get the girl to smile. As she handed her daughter the clothing, Callie tried to stand up to grab them, however, the second she moved from her sitting position, a heavy wave of dizziness and nausea hit her and she began to sway.

"Don't stand up too fast" Lena said as she reached her hand to the girl in order to help her gain back her balance.

Callie nodded and thanked the woman before starting to unfold her clothes.

"You doin' alright there, slug a bug?" Lena asked as the girl continued to sway slightly, her hands shaking.

Before Callie had a chance to respond, her face felt cold, her heart rate picked up and she heard a fuzzy sound in her ears.

Lena noticed the color drain from her daughter's face and was able to reach out and catch her as she came crashing down to the floor. "Stef!"

* * *

 **I know, another cliffhanger. But let me know if you have any ideas. I will put them into the story!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I am so sorry for the delay. I started a new job and have been swamped. I am not a doctor, so I got the medical information online and I apologize if there is some incorrect information or terminology. Thanks so much for reviewing, following, and favoriting. You guys are wonderful readers!**

* * *

It all happened so fast that it took a minute for Stef to realize what was happening. After her wife frantically called out her name, she watched, as if in slow motion, her daughter collapse. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Stef's brain began to work and she rushed over to her daughter, who was thankfully caught by Lena before she hit the ground.

"Callie! Callie baby!" She stared at the unresponsive girl almost dangling in her wife's arms. "Callie, my love. Honey wake up!"

"Adam! Call an ambulance!" Stef heard the manager yell from behind her before she felt a hand on her back. He pressed his fingers against her neck and looked for the rise and fall of her chest- indicating that she still had a heart beat and was still breathing. Once he found a faint heartbeat and watched her chest move up and down a few times, he nodded towards two other men before turning to Stef. "Ma'am we're gonna strap her back on the board and take her out to meet the ambulance so they don't have to waste any time coming in here." He said gently as he motioned for two lifeguards to bring the board over.

Lena looked from her daughter's somber face to her wife's panicked one. "Stef." She called out, trying to get the blonde to pry her eyes away from their daughter. "Stefanie." She raised her voice, but it was still full of love. "Stef look at me." Stef lifted her head up hesitantly and Lena could see the tears forming around her eyes. "Love, let them get in so they can help." She said as though Stef was a young girl and needed to be talked to in a gentle manner.

"Ma'am I promise we will do whatever we can to help your daughter, but we need to get to her." The manager explained again as he carefully helped the blonde up and gently guided her over to one of the plastic chairs.

Wanting to waste no more time, the lifeguards hurried over to Callie and Lena. One of them checked her vitals, while the other one strapped the neck brace back on the teen. They carefully moved her from Lena's arms onto the board and continued to check her.

Knowing that there was nothing she could be doing at the moment to help her daughter, Lena made her way over to Stef, who was staring off into space. She knew how hard her wife was taking this and she knew she was using every ounce of energy to keep from falling apart.

"Stef." Lena knelt down in front of her wife and tried to capture her focus. "Honey." She tried again to get any sort of response.

Finally, she saw a tear slip from the blonde's eye and she stood up before pulling her into a hug. "She's gonna be fine, honey. It's Callie. She is so strong" She said, remembering what her son had said only a few minutes earlier.

"Move on my count"

As both mothers heard the voices of the lifeguards raise, they pulled apart from one another and watched as they lifted the board and began to walk out of the door.

Stef quickly followed them, not even stopping to grab her purse.

"Stef! Hold on, honey!" Lena called after her. She knew she needed to be strong at the moment because Callie couldn't afford both of her mothers in panic. She grabbed both purses and hurried out of the door to try and reach her wife.

Before she could make it 10 steps out of the medical room, she heard a sob and her focus sprang towards her youngest two children.

After leaving to get some food, Jude had grabbed the first snack he could find and headed to the cash register as soon as they made it to the snack bar, just in order to get out fast. He quickly paid for the piece of fruit and mumbled a small thank you before turning to leave. Seeing what he was doing, Mariana shoved the flavored water that she had picked out into Brandon's hands and hurried off after him.

They had only made it a few steps out of the snack bar before they heard a faint siren of an ambulance.

"Jude..." Mariana began, knowing what he was thinking, but it was too late, the boy took off, running back towards the medical room. He had a feeling in his stomach that something was not right.

Mariana followed him quickly, but by the time she reached him, the siren was much louder and she saw a team of lifeguards carrying out someone on a board. She knew it was Callie.

Jude let out a sob and Mariana reached over towards him, holding onto him for dear life.

"Jude? Mari?" Lena called out as she looked from her children to her wife, who was glued next to the team of lifeguards. She knew her wife would want to ride in the ambulance with the girl, and that meant she needed to be there for her other children.

"What... what happened? Why... you said she... you said!" Jude sputtered out as tears flowed freely from his eyes.

"Oh my babies. Come here" She said as she opened her arms up to her youngest children and they both made a beeline into the safety of their mother's arms.

Lena felt both children shake from a mixture of fear, anxiety, and simply from being out of the water and still being wet. That just made her hold them tighter and she rocked them, trying to soothe their fears as well as her own.

"Mom! What happened?!"

All three looked up and saw Jesus running towards them. He and Brandon had heard the sirens and assumed the worst.

Lena looked over towards the parking lot where Callie was being tended to by the paramedics. She desperately wanted to be with her daughter, but her children needed her too. She decided that Callie was in the best hands possible at the time and that she needed to focus on the four confused faces in front of her.

"They're taking her in to do a more thorough check." Lena explained as her oldest boys caught up to where they were standing.

Jude looked up at her with red eyes. "You said she was ok! You said she was gonna be fine!" He accused, though with very little anger and more sadness in his tone.

"I know, sweetheart. And she was doing alright, but something else must have happened that took a while to take effect because she got really dizzy when she tried to stand up."

"I need to see her!" Jude said suddenly as he pulled quickly away from Lena and sprinted towards the ambulance.

"Jude!" Lena called after him and Jesus took off after his brother.

Having a slight head start, Jude made it more than halfway to the ambulance and watched as they loaded his sister into the back. "Callie!" He called out, though he knew she couldn't hear him. Lena may not have told them much, but what she didn't tell them gave him the information he needed to understand that it wasn't good.

Stef heard the call of her daughter's name and poked her head out from the back of the ambulance. She had planned on riding with, knowing that Lena would take the other kids and meet them at the hospital.

"CALLIE!" Stef heard again and she saw Jude running as fast as his small legs could carry him towards the back of the ambulance. She also saw Jesus quickly catching up to the younger boy.

Stef, having finally able to snap herself out of the daze that she was in, watched as Jesus caught up to Jude and wrapped his arms around the boy, trying to keep hold of him as he kicked and squirmed in his arms. She sighed and ran the few steps to meet up with her boys.

"Baby. I need you to calm down for me. I'm gonna be with Callie. Mama is gonna bring all of you to the hospital and then you can see her." She said as she cupped her youngest's chin in her hands.

Jude continued to thrash in Jesus' arms. "I NEED TO SEE HER! LET ME GO!"

Stef sighed as she looked back at the ambulance. She knew they needed to leave and she hated leaving her children, especially when one of them was this upset, but she trusted her wife and knew she would be able to handle the meltdown.

"I've gotta go, my loves. I love you both and I will see you at the hospital." She said quickly before blowing a kiss at her boys and running back to the ambulance.

By this time, Lena had made her way to Jesus and Jude while Brandon and Mariana started picking up the bags that had been left by the medical room.

"CALLIE!" Jude cried out once more before falling limp in his brother's arms.

Jesus looked from his brother, who was silently sobbing, to his mother, who was trying to get the boy to look at her.

"Jude, honey." Lena called out gently. "Can you look at me, sweetheart?"

Jude lifted his head up and Lena's heart broke as she saw the trail of tears, red puffy eyes, and quivering lip. "Mom is gonna take good care of her and when they get to the hospital, there are going to be a bunch of doctors who are going to take really good care of her." She continued as Jesus loosened his grip on his brother and the boy fell into Lena's arms. "She is so strong and she is going to be alright, honey." She said as she ran her fingers through his short hair.

The two remained in a much needed embrace for a few moments before Jude spoke up. "It's not fair." He whispered into the crook of Lena's neck. "Why does this always have to happen to her? What did she ever do?" He asked.

Lena sighed at the question. "She didn't do anything wrong, baby." Lena responded, not knowing how to fully answer the question when she wondered it herself.

She tightened her grip on her son and let him cry, knowing he was terrified and didn't need words as much as physical comfort.

It wasn't until she heard someone call _Mama_ did she look up. Brandon had went to get the van while Mariana and Jesus loaded all of the bags in. They knew Jude was taking this especially hard and they figured it would cut down on the time they had to wait to get to the hospital, where Jude could see his sister for himself.

Lena smiled at her children, silently thanking them for taking care of the bags before turning her attention towards her youngest.

"Come on, baby. Let's go see Callie."

Jude looked up and saw the van pulled up to the side of the curb and he nodded into his mom's shoulder. Together, they walked hand-in-hand towards the van.

* * *

Stef stepped into the back of the ambulance after pulling herself away from her son who was falling apart. It made her feel terrible as a mother, but looking down at the unconscious girl in front of her, she knew she had made the right choice.

"Excuse me, ma'am" one of the paramedics said as he gently pushed his way next to Callie. Stef watched as the hand she had placed on her daughter's shoulder slid off and landed by her side. She watched as they hooked her daughter up to a few portable machines. They slipped an oxygen mask over her face and started an IV. Stef couldn't take not knowing, she needed some information.

"What's wrong? What happened?" She blurted out.

While one of the paramedics continued take down stats and information about Callie, a female paramedic moved over to sit next to Stef. "Hi. I'm Lisa." She introduced herself, but she knew the woman wasn't really interested in small talk.

"Stef." She responded before waiting for the paramedic to answer her initial question.

Lisa looked at the blonde with a kind but firm look. "From what we gathered from the lifeguards and what we see here, Callie is most likely suffering from near-drowning." She began to explain. "The hindering of or stopping of breathing effected her lungs. When she inhaled the water, the inside of her lungs were 'washed out' and the protective lining of her lungs was lost. That loss created breathing problems, which she may not have even known she was having at the time." Lisa continued. She waited to see if Stef had any questions, but the look on her face indicated that she should continue.

"When the flow of air to your daughter's lungs was obstructed, she had a delayed reaction of hypoxia, which means she had lowered levels of oxygen in her blood. That is what caused her to collapse. Right now, we're bringing up her core temperature and monitoring her oxygen levels as well as her lung function" She finished.

Stef nodded. She knew it wasn't good, but she didn't know just how bad it was.

"So what does that mean for her?" She asked, swallowing a lump in her throat.

Lisa licked her lips. "Well, that depends on the final diagnosis, which won't happen until we get to the ER." She said slowly, knowing that wasn't what the mother wanted to hear.

"But... I mean is she... is she gonna be..." Stef didn't know if she truly wanted to know the answer to her question.

The woman exhaled before replying. "Most of the time, victims o near-drowning have to be monitored in the hospital and are fine after 7-8 hours." She began. "However, if there are other problems found, there could be further complications."

Stef bit her lip and looked over at her daughter.

"But those are less likely cases." Lisa tried to comfort the mother.

Stef nodded but asked herself when Callie ever got a break in life and that it seemed to always be the unlikely case with her daughter.

The mother took in all of the information for a moment and closed her eyes, reminding herself that they had gotten her daughter help and were on their way to get even more help.

"Mmmm"

The sound of muffled moaning came from the gurney and Stef's head snapped up. She looked over at her daughter who seemed to be disoriented and confused as to where she was. She could see the girl trying to reach her face to take off the oxygen mask, but she had been strapped to the board for safety purposes and wasn't able to move freely.

Stef saw her daughter begin to panic and moved to kneel next to her.

"Callie, baby. You're ok. You're alright, my love." Stef cooed as she leaned over her daughter's head in order to try and make eye contact.

She saw the girl's brown eyes widen as she continued to panic and she looked towards the paramedics to make sure the girl wasn't unsafe from all of the moving.

"Try and get her to keep still." Lisa whispered to her with a sad smile.

"Love, take a deep breath for me." She said, pouring out as much love into her voice as possible. "You need to stay still, baby. Come on, love." She pleaded with her daughter.

Callie, not fully understanding what was going on, continued moving back and forth, trying in any way possible to gain back any control over her body. She felt the hot tears slide down her cheeks, which only made her angrier.

"Oh baby." Stef sighed as she wiped the tears away from the girl. She felt such a loss as to what to do. She wanted to take the oxygen mask off so Callie could talk, and she wanted to unstrap the girl so she could hold her, but she knew that both of those things were helping keep her healthy. "Sweets, breathe. Can you breathe for me, please?" She tried again to calm down her daughter.

Finally, as the monitors began to beep, the male paramedic knew he needed to intervene. "We're gonna give her something to help her relax" He said gently, though both he and Stef knew that meant he had to pump more drugs into her daughter's system. She would normally ask for details about what was being put into her child's body, but she knew there wasn't time for that.

Stef nodded slightly and moved towards her daughter's head, leaving room for the paramedic to get to her started IV.

The blonde ran her fingertips up and down the brunette's forehead and cheeks, whispering soothing words to her as the needle was put in and Callie began to still.

"ETA 2 minutes. Prepare to unload. Trauma 2." Came a voice from the front of the ambulance.

As Callie struggled to keep her eyes open, Stef leaned down and whispered, "Just relax, my love. I am right here. I am not leaving you. You're gonna be ok. I love you so much."

And even though she didn't speak, Stef knew Callie heard her as her eyes finally fully relaxed.

* * *

Even though she knew they were only 2 minutes away, the rest of the ride felt like hours to Stef. She watched as Callie finally settled down, but refused to move from her daughter's sight, just in case she opened her eyes again.

Finally, she felt the ambulance stop and saw the back doors open, followed by a slew of doctors pulling Callie out on the gurney and paramedics spouting off stats and critical information. She silently followed her daughter out of the ambulance and hurried next to her as a doctor began to push her through the double doors of the emergency room.

"Near-drowning, BP 80 over 65, loss of consciousness, temp 95, medical sedation" She heard the doctor inform the other medical professionals around her as they continued to wheel Callie further into the ER.

Suddenly, she felt someone put their hands on her shoulders and she turned around to see an intense looking doctor. "Ma'am. You can't go into the trauma room. You're gonna have to wait in the waiting room." She said before turning off and following the other doctors.

Stef was frozen in her position. Callie was already being wheeled into the room and she couldn't see her anymore.

"Can I help you find the waiting room?" A nurse asked from behind her. Stef turned around and tried to open her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. The nurse understood the variety of emotions that entered the emergency room and knew that this was a very worried mother. "You can follow me." She said before starting to walk towards the waiting room. She turned to make sure the woman was following her, which she was.

"You can have a seat wherever you would like. Can I get you a water or something?"

Stef took a deep breath and forced herself to focus on the woman in front of her. She smiled slightly but shook her head. "No, but thank you. I appreciate your help."

The nurse smiled sadly at the mother and nodded. "If you need anything, Amanda is working the nurse station in the waiting room." She said as she pointed to a small red headed woman sitting a few feet away from them.

"Thank you." Stef said again as she pulled out her phone. She knew Lena was most likely driving, so she texted her daughter, knowing she would have her phone on her and could relay a message to Lena.

 _Love, can you tell mama Callie is being taken care of and I'm waiting in the trauma ER waiting room? Text me when you guys get here. Be careful. I love all of you so much._

Stef hit send and leaned back into the hard chair. She needed her daughter to be ok. She needed her daughter to catch a break. She needed her wife for strength. She needed all of this, but all she could do was sit and wait.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you to all who have followed and reviewed. I promise I have not forgotten about this story, I have just been stuck as to where I want to take it. This chapter is focused on the rest of the family and how they are dealing. The next chapter will be focused on Callie and her diagnosis. Again sorry for the wait but thanks for stickin with me!**

* * *

"Mom!"

Stef's head snapped up as she heard the small voice of her youngest. She stood up and all but ran to her children and wife as they entered the waiting room.

"My babies." Stef said as she exhaled a breath she didn't even know she was holding.

"How is she?" Lena asked as soon as she could make eye contact with her wife.

Stef looked down at her children and licked her lips. "Hey B why don't you guys go grab something from the cafeteria?" She asked, hoping he would get the hint that the two adults needed to talk alone.

"Uhh yeah sure." Brandon responded. "Come on, guys." He started walking towards the stairs, followed reluctantly by Jesus and Mariana, but Jude remained still.

Lena sighed and ran her fingers through her son's hair. "Jude, sweetheart, can you go with Brandon and get something to eat, please?"

Tears filled the boy's eyes. "Why do you always tell us to go get food when you are talking about Callie? She is my sister! I need to know whats going on! I have to! I can't lose her!" His voice grew angrier with each word and the tears were flowing freely. Stef sighed and dropped to her knees before pulling her youngest into her arms.

"My sweet, sweet boy." She kissed his head a few times as she rocked him. "I know you're worried about Callie, but this isn't something you need to be dealing with. It is something that us as moms need to deal with." She cupped his face in her hands and smiled slightly. "I promise you that we will keep you updated." She looked up at her other children. "All of you updated."

Jude sniffed back a sob as he nodded his head.

"She's so strong, baby. She's gonna be alright." Lena added as she wrapped her arms around the boy as well.

Finally, Jude pulled away from his mothers and wiped his eyes.

"Maybe we can get something for Callie at the gift shop." Mariana suggested as she put her arm around her little brother. "Come on, you can pick it out."

This time, Jude allowed his siblings to take him with them as they descended down the stairs to the first floor of the hospital.

Once the children were out of sight, Stef exhaled once again deeply once again and Lena gave her wife a knowing look.

"Talk to me." The curly haired woman said as she pulled her wife over to a chair so they could talk.

Stef put her hands in her lap and played with the material of her shorts, which she had't had the chance to change out of yet from the pool.

Lena gently laid her hand onto of her wife's, stilling it and causing the blonde to look up.

"How is she?" Lena asked, full of love and patience.

Stef's eyes glistened with unshed tears. "I don't know." She said as she let her head drop again.

"What do you mean you don't know? What happened in the ambulance?" Lena asked, tilting her head to try and reach her wife's eyes.

Stef shook her head in anger. "She looked so helpless lying there, strapped to that board. And then she...she woke up. But she was so disoriented and moving around too much that they had to sedate her." Stef finished, wiping a tear. "One of the paramedics was telling me a little about what she had near drowning or something, but I don't really remember." Stef confessed as she buried her head in her hands.

Lena sighed and placed her hand on her wife's back and began to rub soothing patterns. She knew it had been difficult for the blonde to be with Callie and not do anything but watch her suffer.

"Did they say anything when they took her in?" Lena asked gently, not wanting to upset her wife more, but needing to know as much as she could about her daughter.

"No. Not really. They just took her back. But they said she would have to have some tests done to see how much damage was actually done." She looked up at her wife. "But I have no idea how long that takes or what the possibilities even are!" She continued angrily.

Lena nodded and decided to simply be with her wife and ask questions later. She pulled the blonde up into an upright position and then slowly wrapped an arm around her shoulders, effectively making Stef lean into her embrace. "She's gonna be ok." Lena whispered into her wife's ear as she held her while praying that she was right.

* * *

"What about this one?" Mariana held up a fuzzy brown bear sporting a t-shirt that said 'Get Well Soon'.

Jude glanced over at his sister and shrugged his shoulders. "Sure" He mumbled.

Mariana sighed as she put the bear back on the shelf. "Come on, Jude. I know you're scared and worried about Callie, we all are, but maybe helping pick out something for her would help distract you until you can go see her." She teen tried to explain to her younger brother.

"If" Jude replied.

"What?"

"I said if. If I get to go see her. If she survives. If she doesn't die!" He yelled as he threw the bottle of gatorade that Brandon had bought for him when they first got to the cafeteria/gift shop area.

Brandon and Jesus came running over at the yelling and tried to get an understanding of the situation. "What's wrong?" Brandon asked.

"Jude was just letting off a little steam" Mariana said, as to help out her brother who she knew was hurting.

Brandon tried to wrap an arm around his youngest brother, but he shrugged the affection off.

"Leave me alone!" He growled at his siblings.

"We get it, Jude. We're upset too. But..." Mariana tried to speak, but Jude interrupted.

"NO YOU DON'T!" He yelled.

Brandon grabbed the boy's arm and led him away from the other people who had begun to stare.

"LET GO OF ME!" He yelled again as he yanked his arm back.

"Hey! Jude! We know you're mad, but you can't yell like that." Jesus said as he eyes his brother.

Jude snapped his head to face the boy. "Don't tell me what to do! You don't know how I'm feeling! You don't know Callie like I do! She is everything to me!" He cried out, trying to keep his voice from wavering.

"We love her too, Jude." Mariana said gently, which seemed to set the boy off even more.

"YOU DON'T LOVE HER LIKE I DO!" He yelled in her face. "You hated her when she first got here and you only care about her when it's convenient for you! You're so selfish! She was all that I had for years! So don't even try to tell me that you love her too! You don't get to get upset about this! YOU DON'T GET TO CRY FOR HER! You don't even care! IT SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN HER! IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU! With everything you did! Callie didn't do anything and she is still the one dying!" He spat.

"Jude! Why would you say that? And she's not dying!" Jesus yelled back at the boy before Brandon put a hand on his shoulder, telling him to keep calm.

"You will never be her sister. So stop acting like you care." Jude said with a glare before taking off towards the doors.

Jesus looked from the door to his twin who looked like she had just been slapped.

"It's ok. I'm ok." Mariana replied as her eyes filled with unwanted tears. She blinked a few times before forcing out a small smile. "Go, Jesus. I'm fine."

The teen looked hesitantly from his twin and to the door again before he caught eyes with Brandon. Jesus gave him a look and the older boy knew what he wanted.

"I've got her. You get Jude." Brandon responded before Jesus nodded his head and took off.

Brandon looked at Mariana, who was trying unsuccessfully to wipe away the falling tears.

"Mari..."

"I'm fine." The brunette replied, holding her hand up to stop her brother. "Let's just go back upstairs and wait." She said as she headed towards the elevators.

Brandon sighed as she watched his sister try and hold herself together. He wished he could do something to help his siblings, but for the life of him, he didn't know what to do.

* * *

Stef and Lena had remained sitting in the cold, hard chairs in the dimly lit waiting room for only about 15 minutes before they heard the ping of the elevator and saw two of their children walking towards them.

Lena got up and right away could tell something was wrong.

"What happened?" She asked as she made her way to her children.

Mariana kept her head down and continued to walk over to an empty chair and sat down. Meanwhile, Lena had stopped her eldest son and caught his eyes. "Brandon?" She asked and he knew what she was asking.

"Jude got a little upset and kinda took it out on Mariana." He began, knowing there was no use in trying to fake any part of what happened. "Jesus is with him." He quickly added, as Lena scanned behind him to see where her two other sons were.

Upon hearing what her son said, Stef too got up and walked over to where her wife was. "What do you mean he got upset? Did he say something?" Stef asked as she cocked her head in order to really listen and hear her son.

Brandon scratched the back of his head as he tried to figure out how to best explain what happened. "Yeah, I mean he was upset and Mariana was just kinda talking to him and I dono really he just like snapped and yelled at her."

Both mothers looked over towards their daughter who was curled up onto the chair, her head resting on her knees.

Stef and Lena nodded at each other as they had a silent conversation.

Lena gave her wife's hand a slight squeeze before turning and walking towards Mariana, while Stef remained with Brandon.

"Ok, B. Where did Jude and Jesus go?" Stef asked, not beating around the bush.

Brandon looked down and bit his lip. "Uhh I don't know for sure really. Jude... he kinda ran off" He started but was interrupted by the blonde.

"What? He ran off? Like out of the hospital?"

Brandon shrugged his shoulders slightly in shame. "I'm sorry mom. He took off and Jesus ran after him, so I stayed to make sure Mariana was alright." He said as he looked up and saw that Lena was squatted in front of his sister, trying to get her to talk.

Stef licked her lips. "Have you tried calling Jesus? Or even Jude for that matter?"

"No. Not yet." Brandon mumbled as Stef pulled out her phone. "I'm sorry, mom!"

Stef smiled sadly at her son. "I know, baby. I'm not mad at you." She reassured him as she put the phone up to her ear.

"Hi, my love. Do you have Jude? Yes? Ok. No it's ok, baby I was just checking."

Brandon exhaled when his mother was able to confirm that his brothers were accounted for. As she walked a little ways away from the waiting room to ask her middle son about what happened, Brandon found an empty chair and sat down. His head dropped down into his hands as he waited for whatever life was going to throw at his family next.

* * *

"Can you talk to me, sweetheart?" Lena asked for what seemed like the hundredth time since she had walked over to her obviously upset daughter.

And just as the times before, Mariana kept her head resting on her knees and remained looking straight ahead.

Lena shifted her weight, as the squatting was beginning to cut off circulation. "Baby, you're ok. Talk to mama. Please." Lena began to almost beg. She feared that Mariana was reverting back into the silent little girl who they had fostered all those years ago. There had only been a handful of other times when she began to retreat into herself, but she and Stef were always able to pull her back out.

A tear fell from the Latina's eye and fell- the girl not even caring anymore to wipe it away.

Lena's heart broke as she sighed and stood up before sitting down next to her daughter, and like she had done with Stef, placed her hand on the girl's back. She made quick eye contact with her wife as the blonde walked out of the room with her cellphone between her shoulder and her ear, but her focus was soon pulled back by the small sniffling of her daughter and the deep sigh of her son.

She wanted to wrap her kids up in her arms and never let them go. How could such a fun trip turn into such a terrible disaster?

It was only until they heard three words did all three family members stand up and hurry over to the source of the voice.

"Family of Callie?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Seriously life. Just life. It's crazy. P.S. so excited for the premiere on Monday! I think this season will be the best one yet!**

 **Thanks for sticking with me. If you have suggestions or things you want to see, let me know!**

* * *

"Family of Callie?"

At this all 4 Adams Foster family members in the waiting room looked up at the doctor who had appeared at the door.

Stef and Lena quickly made their way over to the doctor and looked at him intently- waiting for what he had to say.

"We are her mothers." Lena said quickly, glancing back at her children who were paying attention, but hadn't moved from their seats.

"I'm Dr. Harrison Randall. I have been working with your daughter." The older man said as he extended his hand out to the two mothers, who both shook it and smiled as a reply.

"I'm Stef and this is my wife, Lena." The blonde added as they all dropped their hands.

Dr. Randall smiled slightly before looking down at the chart that was in his hand. "Callie is suffering from near drowning. This is when a person is not able to breathe from being submerged in water or inhales too much water into the lungs." He said, pausing for any questions that the mothers might have.

"Is she alright now?" Stef asked, squeezing her wife's hand.

The doctor exhaled deeply. "We took her up to the ICU in order to maintain a monitor on her lungs and brain. Unfortunately, at this time we don't know much of what the long term effects will be. Her core temperature is rising back up and she has been given an IV with fluids for the time being, but we will be testing her for common side effects of near drowning in order to determine how serious this is."

Stef and Lena looked at each other and had a silent conversation with their eyes. Lena nodded and they both looked back at the doctor. "Can we see her?" The brunette asked.

"We need to get her fully stabilized and into a room, but as soon as we do that, you are more than welcome to stay in her room with her." Dr. Randall responded with a small smile. "I will have Debbie send you up when she is in her room." He added, gesturing to the nurse who was sitting behind the desk.

"Thank you, Dr." Stef said as she extended her hand and shook the doctor's hand.

"She seems like a strong girl." He added simply before turning and leaving.

Lena felt a tear fall down her cheek and Stef let out a soft chuckle. "Yes she is."

* * *

"Dude I'm gonna carry you back if you don't start walking." Jesus said as he looked down at his brother who was sitting on a bench outside of the hospital. He had caught up to the boy fairly quickly and convinced him to stay by the hospital.

Stef had called him soon after and asked him about what had happened. Honestly, he wasn't too happy with Jude for what he said, but on some level, he understood what he meant. It had been hard when Brandon had first begun to call Mariana his sister because to Jesus, she was his only sister for his whole life. He didn't find it fair that all of a sudden he had to share her with someone new. However, the things Jude said about his twin were bugging the teen the most. He knew his sister would take every single word to heart, even if they weren't true.

"Come on, Jude." Jesus said as he approached his brother.

Before he could reach down and place a hand on the boy's shoulder, he jerked his arm away. "Leave me alone! I hate you! I hate all of you!" He screamed.

Jesus's face dropped. He really wished someone else was here with him because he had no idea how to address his brother in this state.

The older boy scratched his head as he began to talk again. "Uhh moms are really worried about you. Can you at least go back and show them that you're ok?" He tried, hoping this would at least get him back into the building where his mothers could take the lead.

Jude mumbled something in response and let out a small sob.

"What?" Jesus asked as he sat down next to the boy, who had his face turned away from his brother.

After a few moments, the boy lifted his head and spoke again. "I'm not ok."

* * *

It had only been 10 minutes since the doctor had come in to discuss Callie's injuries, but to both moms, it felt like a lifetime.

Mariana had curled into one of the chairs, her back to the rest of the room, and she had her head down. They weren't sure if she was sleeping or not, but they decided to let her have some time alone to process everything. Jesus had partly explained what happened over the phone before Stef was pulled away by the doctor's presence, but both moms knew they needed to discuss things further with their youngest children soon.

After another dragging 5 minutes, the elevator doors pinged and Jesus stepped out, followed slowly by Jude. Stef, Lena and Brandon all jumped up and hurried over to the boys- Lena pulling Jude into her arms and Stef doing the same to Jesus.

"My babies." Stef said as she sighed, content with holding her son.

Lena could feel Jude's small body shake and the formation of a tear stain on her shirt. She held onto the boy tighter and kissed the top of his head. "You're alright, sweetheart. You're ok." She cooed in a whisper.

Jesus, wanting to check on his sister, pulled away from Stef, biting his lower lip. "I'm sorry I didn't get him back sooner..." he began before Stef put up her hand to stop him.

"Thank you for following him." Was all she said in response before glancing over at Mariana, who hadn't moved seemingly the entire time.

Jesus followed her gaze and took a deep breath before making his way over to his twin.

As Jesus stood next to his sister, he could tell that she wasn't sleeping. He dropped down to his knees in front of her and tried to meet her eyes.

"Mari?" He asked, hoping she would talk to him.

"I'm fine. Just tired." She managed to respond, though they both heard the crack in her voice.

Jesus sighed in defeat. "Come on. Let's go walk around a little." He suggested.

However, the girl only shook her head and tightened her grip on her legs as they continued to hide her face.

"Please? Come on. For your most favorite brother?" He tried to get any sort of reaction out of his typically bubbly sister, but she didn't respond.

Sighing again, he looked up and noticed his mothers standing behind him, looks of concern on their faces. He looked over his other shoulder and saw Jude and Brandon sitting in the chairs, though not together. Jude was still upset with all of them apparently.

He didn't even realize that he was crying until Lena reached down and wiped a tear from Jesus' cheek, letting her hand linger as she cupped his face. She gave him a sad smile as they stood up, his eyes glancing from his mothers to his sister.

Stef noticed her son's constant movement of his legs and realized that he wasn't able to take his ADHD meds due to all of the commotion that morning. And with his twin being in the state that she was, it seemed to be intensified.

The blonde mother made eye contact with the brunette mother and then looked down at the boy, who was now pacing the waiting room.

Lena nodded before looking down at Mariana, indicating that she would take care of this one if Stef took care of that one.

"Come on, love. Walk with me?" Stef asked to Jesus as she grabbed ahold of his shoulder in order to still his bouncing.

Jesus nodded, thankful for the chance to move around and followed his mother.

"Boys? Why don't you come with?" She called out to her oldest and youngest.

Brandon nodded right away and stood up, while Jude kept his head down.

"Jude, baby come walk with us." Stef said gently as she walked over to the boy.

The young teen simply shook his head and folded his arms over his chest.

"Stef, it's ok. I've got him." Lena said from her seat next to her daughter. "You guys go take a walk and by the time you get back, we will be able to go visit Callie." She said, hoping that news would bring peace of mind to at least one person in her family.

The blonde nodded at her wife and smiled. "Sounds good. Come on, my loves." She said to her two oldest boys as they walked out the doors of the waiting room.

Lena exhaled deeply as she looked at her daughter. She looked even smaller than usual as she was curled up into herself on the small chair.

Deciding not to beat around the bush, Lena placed her hand on her daughter's back and began drawing random patterns- something she knew soothed the Latina.

"Talk to me, sweetheart. What happened?"

Mariana knew as soon as a hand was placed on her back that it was Lena. She always loved when her mother would draw shapes and patterns on her back. It always made her relax. However, today was different. She couldn't enjoy this love. She truly believed everything Jude had said earlier and as she sat in the chair, those words flowed through her mind.

 _I am selfish. I am stupid. I am a burden._ She repeated to herself over and over. She forced her mother's voice out of her head so she could focus on these thoughts that she deemed true.

"Please, baby. Just look at mama." Lena begged. She had already been concerned at her daughter's behavior, but now she was worried. "Mariana. I need to know that you're ok. Please respond." She said with a slightly firmer tone. She tried to pull the girl's arms away from her legs, but the teen was adamant about remaining hidden.

"Mama." A small voice called out her name and she turned towards her youngest son, who had gotten up and out of his chair and made his way to his mother and sister.

Lena smiled at the boy and held her arm out for him to sit by her. "Hi, sweetheart. How are you holdin' up?" She asked.

At the question, Jude shrugged his shoulders, but his eyes that were on Mariana indicated that he was focusing more on her than Callie at the moment.

"What's wrong?"

"I said some things to Mariana that weren't true. And they weren't nice." The boy began, shifting from foot to foot, his bottom lip in his mouth as he looked at the floor and spoke. "I was a jerk."

Lena lifted the boy's chin up with her hand and smiled slightly at him. "What did you say?" She asked as she looked back and forth at her children.

Jude pulled his head away from Lena's hands and bit his lip again, regretting even walking over to his mom.

"It's ok, baby. Whatever it is, we will work through it." She turned to her daughter, "all of it."

As Jude repetedly opened and closed his mouth to try and find the words that he so cruelly used towards his sister just a little while prior, the nurse stepped into Lena's view.

As a split second reaction, Lena stood up. "Hold on, baby. Stay right here." She said to the boy as she walked over to the nurse.

"Hi. I'm Debbie." She said with a smile.

"I remember. Hi. I'm Lena. Can we go see Callie?" She asked, praying that the answer would be yes and that her wife would be back soon.

Debbie smiled and nodded. "Yes you can. Typically we don't allow more than 4 people in the room at a time, but I saw you have quite the family and I think we can make an exception for today."

Lena smiled at the woman's kindness. "Thank you, that is so kind of you. We all appreciate..."

"Lena?" Stef's voice called out as she quickly walked through the doors and over to her wife and the nurse. Brandon and Jesus followed in soon after.

"Hey. Debbie said Callie is in her room and we can go up and see her." Lena said with a small smile.

Stef raised her eyebrows. She could tell from the tone of her voice that there was something else they needed to talk about, but for the time being, she was happy that she was able to see her daughter. "That's awesome! You guys all ready?" Stef asked as she glanced at the two boys who remained behind her.

They nodded eagerly.

"Jude, Mariana. Come on, babies. Let's go see Callie." Stef called over to her two youngest.

Jude immediately jumped up and raced over towards his mothers, however Mariana remained sitting.

Stef turned towards her daughter, "Mariana, love come on."

At this, the Latina stood up, but she didn't walk towards her mothers. She headed towards the exit.

Jesus, eager to continue to move around, and being so concerned about his sister, quickly followed her. "Go see Callie. I'll bring Mariana." He told his mothers.

Lena and Stef looked at one another as they tried to determine if this was a good idea. Neither of them wanted to leave Mariana, but they both desperately needed to see Callie.

Stef nodded and Jesus took off.

"As soon as we are done visiting your sister, we are going to have a chat, young man." Lena said with more authority than her usual cheery voice.

Stef looked at her with a questioning eye, but trusted that her wife knew what she was doing.

"You guys ready?" Stef asked the remaining family members as Debbie smiled and began to walk towards the ICU wing.

As they walked, Jude started to slow down and lag behind. Sensing this, Lena stopped and waited for her youngest son to catch up to her before she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She leaned down and whispered into his ear, "No matter what happened between you and Mariana, we will always love you and you are always safe with us. I think right now, we can put that on hold while we see Callie."

Jude looked up at his mom and nodded as he exhaled- a seeming breath of relief.

"Ok. Here she is. 228. Visiting hours do close in about a half hour..." Debbie began before Stef cut her off.

"I'll be staying with her through the night." She stated, as though it wasn't a question.

Debbie nodded at her statement. "Are you both planning on staying?"

Lena shook her head no. She knew Stef wanted Callie to be alone as little as possible, so that meant camping out in the hospital while they wait. However, both moms knew that the other children wouldn't be able to stay overnight, and with the outbursts from one child and silence from another, they knew Lena would be the one to handle the other children as well as try to figure out what was going on with her youngest daughter.

Understanding it would just be Stef for the night, Debbie nodded before reaching over to open the door. "She isn't fully conscious still, but feel free to go in. I'll be at the front desk if you need anything."

Stef and Lena smiled at the kind nurse. "Thank you." They both said as the woman turned to leave.

Lena looked down at Jude, who was still clinging to her, and smiled. "You ready, sweetheart?"

With frightful eyes, Jude nodded ever so slightly.

Lena gently squeezed his shoulders and nodded at Stef, who had her hand on the door handle.

"Let's go see our Callie Girl."


	6. Chapter 6

**Just a little chapter to show I am still alive and kicking, I'm just finding it hard to write. Thank you for the reviews. I truly appreciate them. Who is ready for The Fosters to occupy their Monday nights once again?! This girl is. Anyway peace, love, enjoy.**

* * *

"Let's go see our Calliegirl"

Stef took charge as she opened the door to the room that held their eldest daughter. Followed closely by her wife, and then two of her sons, she prayed that the girl would be alright and that this would be just a short observational stay and that they could all go home soon.

Both mothers looked at their daughter who looked tiny in the large bed. She was hooked up to several machines that were continuously taking down her stats and making sure that anything off was documented.

As they approached the bed, Jude suddenly stopped. However, as he was holding onto Lena's hand, she was pulled to a halt as well.

"Jude, sweetheart it's ok." Lena said softly as she pulled her son into her side.

Jude looked at his sister with tears in his eyes. "It's just not fair." He squeaked out.

Stef smiled sadly at him as she turned to kneel in front of him. "I know, baby. It's not fair at all. But you know what? Callie is so strong. You know why?" She asked and waited for Jude to really look into her eyes for the answer. "Because she loves you. And she would do anything for you." Stef finished, reaching up to wipe a tear that had fallen from her son's eye.

Jude nodded. He knew this was true. He knew that nothing would stop his sister from doing anything for him. He just hated that everything bad seemed to happen to her. He just didn't understand why the world had it out for his sister.

"Come on, love. Come sit next to Cal. Maybe hearing your voice will help." Lena suggested as she gently squeezed his shoulder into her side and began walking towards the bed.

Stef walked around to the opposite side of the bed, as Lena slowly made her way to the closer side with Jude in tow. Brandon followed his blonde mother as to not crowd his little brother.

"Hey, sweetheart." Stef said as she leaned down to brush some stray hairs off of her daughter's forehead and then place a gentle kiss on her temple. "We're here, love."

Lena nodded at her wife who made eye contact with her first and then to the young boy. "Jude. Come here. Hold her hand." Lena said gently as she backed away from the side of the bed to allow room for the boy to slip in closer to his sister.

The brunette placed her hands on her son's shoulders and rubbed them slightly. "Go on, sweetie. I think only your touch can really help her right now." She wanted the young boy to feel as loved and safe as possible, but knowing that most of that assurance came from his sister, this was the best she could offer him at the current time.

Taking a deep breath, the boy reached over and ever so gently took his sister's hand into his. He lowered his head to her pillow- far enough away that he didn't actually touch her face, but close enough that no one could hear what he was saying.

Both moms and their eldest son watched as the boy began to whisper to his sister.

Wanting to give him some privacy, the three remaining in the room stepped back from the bed and gathered closer to the door.

"So what's our plan for tonight?" Stef asked as she and her wife were able to have a moment to discuss the upcoming hours.

Glancing once more at her youngest, Lena exhaled deeply. "Well I know you want to be here with Callie, but something is going on with Jude and Mariana." She began, basing her words only off of what she had gathered from the past hour.

"Yeah I'm just not clear on what it is" Stef agreed with a concerned look on her face.

Lena licked her lips while trying to figure out the quickest way to inform her wife of what she knew. "All I know is that Jude said some things to Mariana and she is taking them to heart, as she does. I almost got Jude to tell me what he said, but we got pulled in here."

Stef nodded her head as she processed what could possibly have gone on between her youngest children.

"We cannot let this go, Stef." Lena said suddenly. "We have to sit them down and discuss it with them."

"Ok, love. We will." Stef responded, nodding her head. She had hoped that this day wouldn't get any more complicated but this is what having 5 teenagers looks like- no break ever.

"NO!"

A loud yell followed by a thud pulled the mothers out of their thoughts.

They quickly spun around and saw their youngest son no longer holding his sister's hand, but angrily hitting his own hand onto the floor as sobs escaped his body. "NO! NO! NO! I HATE THIS! IT'S NOT FAIR!" He screamed as both Stef and Lena hurried over to him.

"Jude, sweetheart." Lena said gently as she reached him first and bent down to his level. Her heart broke as she saw the raw emotion sliding down his cheeks.

"Come here, honey. Let's talk a bit." She tried, though she was responded with a furious shake of the head and another slap of the ground.

Stef, knowing the young boy was only going to hurt himself further, bent down as well, but reached out her arms to her son. "Come on, Jude." She said as she wrapped her own arms around his flailing ones and pulled him into her stomach.

As soon as Stef made physical contact, he collapsed into his mother's arms and sobs racked his small frame.

Stef looked up at Lena as she rocked her youngest in her arms. She knew they both needed to discuss how they were going to handle each of their children for the night- as they all were in need of something a little different. From physical reassurance to mental understanding- both mothers silently had a conversation with their eyes.

As Jude began to calm and his sobs turned into whimpers, Stef pulled his face away from her chest and smiled down at his tear-stained face. "Everything is going to be alright, baby. We are all going to be alright." She said with confidence- knowing this is what he needed to hear at the moment. "But right now, we all need to take a little break, ok?" She said as more of a statement rather than a question.

Thankfully, the boy nodded his head and slowly stood up, wiping his cheeks as he did.

When all three had stood up, the boy looked down at his shoes in embarrassment. "I'm sorry" He whispered.

Lena bent down used a finger to lift up his chin. "We love you." Was all she said in response.

* * *

"Mariana! Come on!" Jesus yelled as he followed his sister out of the hospital. "I just chased Jude do I really have to chase you too?" He asked.

At the sound of his name, the teen spun around. "It's always about Jude, isn't it?!" She yelled. "Why don't you two just become best friends and play your video games together and be just the best brothers there ever was?" She yelled sarcastically before rolling her eyes. "And just leave me here to die." She added quietly as she turned around.

Both twins knew that she didn't truly mean what she was saying and that the words were coming out of her mouth in frustration, but the last part, that Mariana thought she had said only to herself was heard also by her brother. Putting all other things aside, he ran over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Don't you ever say that again!" He all but yelled at her face.

Mariana bit her lip to try and keep her tears at bay. She didn't really mean what she said, but lately it seemed to be a thought that ran through her mind more often than any other time prior.

"Do you hear me?! Mariana?" Jesus said as his voice cracked and a tear slipped down from his eye.

The Latina shoved her brother's arms off of her shoulders as she tried to put all of the strong emotions behind her. "Just leave me alone"

"NO!" Jesus responded as he reached out and grabbed her arm.

"No. I'm not just gonna leave you alone." He continued, much softer, though his sister was still facing away from him. "Your life means more to me than my own does. And I know you're upset, but I don't give a damn. You are my sister and I will never just leave you alone when you're feeling this upset." He finished, holding his breath to see how she would respond.

Still not looking at her twin, Mariana bit down hard on her lip from making a sound and indicating that she was crying. She was tired of running, of trying to be something good, of failing over and over again. How could she feel so terrible about herself, but her brother still valued her own life over his own? And on top of that, how could she not seem to believe him 100%?

 _It's because I'm screwed up._ Her brain reminded herself as she took a deep breath before turning towards her brother.

"Let it go, Jesus. I'm serious. Jude was right. I am a terrible person and it took until him saying it to my face that I actually see it. I'm sorry I am what you're stuck with as a twin. Now please I need some space. Leave me alone." She finished before turning and walking off quickly.

Still shocked at how his sister felt about herself, it took the Latino a few moments to snap back into reality. He knew she would be mad, but he also knew that he would stand by what he said that he would do anything for her and if that meant her hating him, then that's what it would be.

He pulled out his phone and hit the first speed dial before putting the phone up to his ear.

"Mom. I need you."


	7. Chapter 7

**Happy 2018! New year new me? Maybe? Here's to hoping that I can actually write more! Yay! Thanks for waiting!**

* * *

Not long after Jude's breakdown, the boy had fallen asleep in one of the chairs that Stef and Lena had sat him down in to take some time for himself. He was mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted and his crying had just exhausted him further.

Brandon, by this time, had found his own chair to sit in as he waited for whatever was to happen next. He wasn't sure what was gong to happen, but with all of his siblings suffering in one way or another, he knew that his moms would be counting on him to step up.

Stef and Lena stood by the door of the hospital room, hand-in-hand as they watched three of their children in utter silence. It felt unreal to them how such a fun vacation had turned into a terrible disaster in the matter of hours.

Suddenly, the sound of Stef's phone interrupted the thoughts of both moms.

The blonde sighed as she let go of her wife's hand in order to answer the phone. She looked down and saw that her son was calling. She quickly answered it. "Jesus?"

"Mom. I need you."

Those words. His tone. She knew something was wrong.

"Where are you?" She asked as she held her breath waiting for the answer. She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that this thing with Jude and Mariana wasn't just something small. It wasn't something that was going to work itself out.

"Outside. She... Mariana!" Stef heard Jesus yell in the middle of his sentence.

"Why would you call her?" the faint voice of her daughter was heard in the background.

"Jesus. I'm coming now. Don't move." the blonde replied quickly as she glanced over at her wife and boys.

Lena, knowing her wife was dealing with the situation, waited patiently for the woman to speak.

"I've gotta go handle this." She said in a whisper, as she still had the phone up to her ear. "Call me if anything changes" She added, though she knew nothing would change, at least not for a while.

Lena nodded and cupped her hand around the side of Stef's face. She gave the woman a small kiss before releasing her and watching her slip out the door.

The brunette sighed and looked over at Brandon, who wasn't even trying to hide that he heard the phone call and was worried.

"We're gonna be fine." the boy spoke softly as he looked from his siblings to his mother.

Lena sighed as she sat in the chair next to her oldest son and reached out to hold his hand. "I love you." was her only reply.

* * *

"Keep talking to me." Stef said into the phone as soon as she slipped out of her daughter's room. She needed to know that her children were ok until she could see it for herself.

"I hate you, Jesus!" Stef cringed as she heard her daughter yell this. She could hear the sadness and hurt in the girl's voice. She quickened her pace as her son responded.

"Mariana, you can't do this. You need to stop! Think about Callie. She's the one who is in the hospital!" she heard him say. Stef knew he was trying to reason with her, but she could already picture her daughter's response, and it wasn't good.

"Jesus! Put Mariana on the phone!" She yelled as she rounded the second flight of stairs.

"Mom wants to talk to you." Jesus said to his sister, but she was still responding to his last comment. "Just go back inside and be with Callie. I don't want you here with me. Leave me the hell alone" She said as she continued to walked away.

"Fine! Be selfish! Maybe Jude was right! You're only thinking about yourself! Moms shouldn't have to be worried about you too right now!" Jesus said, now filled with anger and not thinking before he spoke. He was so focused on his sister that he forgot he was still holding his phone with his mom on the other end. He dropped his hand with the phone in it and all Stef could hear was the faint sound of her son yelling. She tried to call his name, but he wasn't close enough to the speaker to hear.

"Damn it. Stef mumbled to herself as she quickened her pace and made her way to the last flight of stairs. She prayed that she would get outside before her son said something else to make the situation worse.

At Jesus' last comment, Mariana's eyes filled with tears as she continued to walk away from the hospital. She was furious with him and with Jude, but she realized that the one person who she was the most upset with was herself. _You_ _stupid idiot. Callie is lying in a hospital bed and you're pulling mom away from her._ She thought to herself as her brother's words resonated in her head.

She didn't even realize she had started running until she found it difficult to breathe and slowed down to sit on a corner bench only a block down from the hospital. She rested her elbows on her thighs and dropped her head into her hands. She knew it wouldn't be long before someone found her- be it her mom or her brother, she didn't care- but what she did know is everything Jude and Jesus had said to her were true. And at that moment, she was determined to end it.

* * *

Back in the hospital room, Brandon had pulled out his phone and put on some soft music, anything to drown out the constant beeping noise coming from the machines that were hooked up to Callie. He toyed with what to think about and what the next few weeks and even months was going to look like for the family.

Turning to Lena, who seemed lost in her own thoughts, he spoke quietly. "Do you want me to call Grandma or Grans?" He didn't know if this was a situation in which the grandparents should be called, but he needed to do something besides sit around and wait.

Lena turned towards her son and smiled gently. "You know what, I haven't even thought of that." She responded. She hadn't thought of much of anything outside of the current situation. She and Stef had determined that they would go back home when Callie was discharged, but she honestly didn't know when that would be. She hadn't even thought about the hotel or the fact that they were hours away from any of their friends or family that lived by them back home. "Why don't we wait on calling them until we have a better idea of what is going on with Cal" She added after a moment of thinking. "But thank you for reminding me." She continued with a smile.

Brandon smiled back. He quickly dropped the smile though- it felt inappropriate to be smiling with Callie in the state she was in.

Lena saw this and reached over to grab his hand. She gave it a squeeze. "It's ok to smile." She said as she forced a small smile of her own out. Even though she just told her son it was ok, she too had an off feeling when one graced her lips.

The two remained hand in hand, each lost in their own thoughts as they waited for an answer; any kind of answer.


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you for your patience! I know I am taking this chapter in a little bit of a different direction, but I am struggling with ideas. Please let me know where you would like to see this story go. Thanks!**

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Stef hurried out through the electric doors of the hospital- hoping that her children would be within sight. She scanned the entrance and parking lot. When she spotted her son, she signed in relief and began walking over towards him.

"Where's Mariana?" Stef asked after pulling her son into a hug. She knew whatever was going on with his twin was hard on him too- she needed to make sure that he was being taken care of as well.

Jesus looked over his shoulder, "She walked over there. All mad at me. I'm sorry I should have gone after her." He replied, hanging his head down in shame.

"Hey" Stef said, lifting his chin up with her finger. "None of that. Let's go find her and we can all talk about whatever is going on, yes?" She finished as she looked in her son's eyes for an answer.

When he nodded, the mother squeezed his chin lightly "Ok, let's go." she added and turned towards the direction of her daughter. She had no idea what had gotten her sweet girl into such a state, but she was determined to find out why.

* * *

Lena watched as her oldest son's eyes began to close ever so slightly. She knew that he was exhausted, but was trying to keep himself awake- in order to be of whatever help possible. Smiling as he once again forced his eyes back open, she squeezed his hand and waited for him to look at her.

"Take a little nap, B." She said and kept going even after he shook his head. "There isn't much going on here anyway. Might as well get some sleep while you can" She explained.

"I need to be here to help when Callie wakes up or when the twins come back up. Or with Jude..." his voice trailed off as they both looked over at the still sleeping boy.

Smiling once again at her eldest son, she kissed his forehead. "How about you rest your eyes and if mom comes back with the twins and they of Jude need something, I will wake you up?" She purposely left out Callie's name- she didn't want to get any hopes up about the girl before she really knew what was going on with her.

Brandon looked over at his brother and sister who had so quickly become a cemented piece of his family. He yawned for what felt like the hundredth time and nodded. "Promise to wake me up if something happens?" He asked.

"Promise." Lena responded as she brought a blanket over to her son while he leaned his head back against the top of the chair he had been sitting in.

Lena sighed and looked at her three sleeping children. In any other situation, she would have relished in the fact that her not-so-little babies were all napping. Today, though it reminded her of the hardship that her family was going through- and she didn't like it at all.

* * *

"Mariana?" Stef called out as she turned the third corner of the hospital. She and Jesus had followed the path where her son had seen the girl leave, but upon reaching it, they saw no sign of her. They continued around to the next side of the hospital, but when the girl was still nowhere to be found, Stef began to worry. "Damn it, Mariana! Where are you?" She mumbled to herself as she pulled out her cell phone. She clicked to her Find Me App and scrolled to try and find the icon that would tell her where her daughter was.

Jesus continued to search a little further. He was cursing himself for not going after her when she stomped away. He knew he was mad at her for what she had said, but now it seemed like such a minor thing compared to her missing.

"Got her!" Stef yelled to Jesus as she took off in the direction that her phone was telling her to go. She winded in and out of some plants and trees until she came to a secluded area with a few benches and a small pond of water. She looked around until she spotted her daughter sitting on one of the benches, her knees pulled up to her chest and her he'd resting on them. Stef sighed as she turned to her son. "Stay here." Was all she said as she quietly walked towards the girl.

Stef walked slowly towards her daughter, trying to use the time to figure out what she was going to say. She didn't know what was bothering the girl or what was going on between her and Jude, but she knew that this reaction was not normal and she needed to tread lightly.

When she finally made it to the bench, she heard soft sobs, which broke her heart. She sat down next to the girl and waited a moment, hoping that her daughter would hear her and look up. She didn't want to scare her by starting to talk.

Mariana was lost in her thoughts. _I'm so selfish. Jude is right. I need to start thinking of other people. I hate myself. I need to get out of here!_ Her thoughts swirled around in her head as she shoved her face further and further into her knees. She was so concentrated on her intrusive thoughts that she didn't even realize someone was sitting next to her. At the last thought of needing to leave, she lifted her head up and took a few deep but shaky breaths. As she prepared herself to stand up, she felt a hand on her back and jumped away in response.

"Woah!" Stef said, holding her hands up to show that she wasn't going to hurt her. "Mari, it's mom. You're ok" She explained as she saw the girl's already tear-stained cheeks become flooded with new tears.

The Latina had been taken by surprise. She didn't think her mother would find her all the way in the little garden that she had found to hide in. She really was not in the mood to talk to anyone, so as best as she could, she pushed past her mother and walked towards the exit opening.

Stef, seeing the girl throw up walls to protect herself, quickly caught up to her daughter and stepped in front of her. She reached out her hands and placed them on the girl's shoulders, halting her movements. "Hold on there, baby." She said as she tried to gain eye contact. "You aren't going anywhere."

Mariana tried to squirm away from her mother, but failed.

"Mariana!" Stef said out loud as she wondered what had been so bad that her daughter was pushing her away. "Baby, we need to talk about what is going through your head." The mother explained. After getting no response, she continued. "Either we can talk about it here and now, or we can go back inside and you can take a nap and we can talk about it in a little bit." She explained. "But we will talk about it." She made sure to add at the end.

The young girl looked slowly up at her mother, tears pooling in her eyes. She shook her head and yanked her shoulders away from her mother. The Latina began to walk towards the hospital- clearly making up her mind that they weren't going to talk at that moment.

Stef sighed as she watched her daughter move slowly past her brother, without even looking at him, and continue towards the main entrance. As she made eye contact with her son, she gave him a small smile and followed her daughter's path. She knew this was far from over, but she was glad that she was getting all of her children to stay in the same place for a while. This is what she needed in order to keep sane and to be able to keep tabs on all of her babies at once.

* * *

 **Please let me know where I should take this story. Thanks =]**


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